Eleven 3-year-olds, promising but unproven, will run in the Grade III Lecomte, the first two-turn stakes prep for the Louisiana Derby.

For the people behind the horses, the Lecomte will bring a dose of reality. Are thoughts about the Kentucky Derby reasonable, foolish or somewhere in between?

Answers will come from the horses running the mile and 40 yards. The Lecomte is the 10th race on a 13-race card that includes six stakes. Post time for the opener is 12:10 p.m.

"This will decide where we are, " said Graham Motion, trainer of Turf Melody, a Maryland-based colt who is the 7-2 morning-line favorite in the Lecomte.

Linemaker Mike Diliberto's line reflects the competitive nature of the field. Early second choice Maximus Ruler is rated at 4-1, and Worldly and Cool Bullet are co-third choices at 5-1.

Turf Melody, coming off a victory in the Springboard Mile in mid-December at Remington Park, is the only three-time winner in the group. He pushed the pace and faded late in stakes sprints at Woodbine and Arlington last year, but in the Spingboard he rallied from far back to win.

"His last race was what I always hoped he was capable of, " Motion said. "It wasn't as tough as this race will be, but it was a big step for him. He handled it really well."

Fair Grounds-based Maximus Ruler encountered traffic trouble and finished a close third against maidens at Churchill Downs in his debut before scoring his first victory two weeks later in a one-turn mile allowance race at Churchill.

"I didn't know when I'd be able to run him back, plus I had two races over Churchill -- which is the main objective (the Kentucky Derby), " trainer Clark Hanna said of his thinking in entering Maximus Ruler in the Churchill allowance race as a maiden. "The big question is two turns. I don't think it will affect him."

Jockey Francisco Torres said: "I thought he was a good horse when he ran his first time out, and he impressed me the second time he ran."

Worldly, a full brother to $1.3 million winner Suave, is coming off a runner-up finish to Stay Put in a solid allowance race at this distance 20 days ago. Two starts back, Worldly, trained by Paul McGee, finished third in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

"This horse is a little smaller than Suave, " said McGee, who also trained Suave. "This horse seems to be a little more game than Suave."

Cool Bullet, whose first three races came in $50,000 maiden-claiming company, won the six-furlong Sugar Bowl Stakes in his fourth start. He's trained by Steve Margolis, who also trains Stay Put and will bring him back in the Risen Star.

Cool Bullet will be trying two turns for the first time. "We can't look into the crystal ball, " Margolis said. "This horse doesn't act like a one-gutted speed horse."

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said: "He worked three-quarters the other day. We started at the half and finished at the three-quarter pole, to get him used to both turns."

The field includes two invaders from Florida -- Citrus Kid and Callide Valley. Citrus Kid finished third in the Grade II Remsen at Aqueduct in his last start, his first race since being sold privately and sent to trainer John Terranova.

"More than anything, he's just an immature, late-developing type of colt, " Terranova said. "I think racing will do him good. The timing is right. He's ready to get going."

The other stakes are the Tiffany Lass, the first two-turn prep for the Fair Grounds Oaks; the Grade III Col. E.R. Bradley, a turf race for older horses; the Louisiana Handicap for older horses; the Anthony B. Leggio Memorial, a turf sprint for fillies and mares; and the Gaudin, a sprint for older horses.

Quiet Temper, who won the Grade III Delta Princess two starts back and romped in a Fair Grounds allowance race 20 days ago, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 10 3-year-old fillies in the Tiffany Lass.

Trainer Dale Romans said Quiet Temper wasn't tired after the allowance race, so she might run in all three stakes races in the local series for 3-year-old fillies.

"She won so easy in that allowance race, it was almost like a breeze for her, " Romans said. "I didn't work her between (that race and this one). I just galloped her."

The Louisiana Handicap, the year's first prep for the New Orleans Handicap, lured a deep field that includes 2009 Blue Grass winner General Quarters, 2009 Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, Tenacious winner Good and Lucky, and Tenacious runner-up Secret Getaway. El Caballo, who lost by a nose to Proudinsky in last year's Mervin Muniz, is the morning-line favorite in the Col. Bradley, the year's first prep for the Muniz.

Bob Fortus can be reached at rfortus@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3408.